Point-of-action data associated with events such as opening a container (whether of medication, soda, some other product, etc.) may be useful in various capacities. Merely detecting such an event may be of interest. For example, determining when a medication container is opened may facilitate tracking of medication use (e.g., using the opening of a container of eyedrops to infer that the eyedrops have been administered) so as to support adherence to a prescribed medication treatment regimen, provide data for clinical studies, etc. Communicating information at time-of-action, such as the lot number of a produce, name, contents, etc. may facilitate use tracking and/or other functions. Providing validation data, e.g., a “code” as may identify genuine items may facilitate the verification that medication or other products are not counterfeit (for example, if a numerical code for a genuine article produces a predicted result when transformed by a complex and/or confidential mathematical algorithm, then it may be inferred that the code was assigned by an authorized manufacturer, e.g., someone with access to the algorithm). Facilitating user recognition, such as providing some positive confirmation of a user that the correct container is being opened, etc., also may be of interest.
At least in principle, certain forms of point-of-action data may be obtained or carried out through self-reporting; however, self-reporting may present certain concerns. For example, the accuracy and/or reliability of the data may be in question. Considering detecting the use of medication as an example, if patients may not reliably remember to take their medication or do so on time, can patients be relied upon to reliably remember to accurately report their use of medication? Even the degree of accuracy, reliability, etc. may be unknown. As another example, while validation may be attempted by user inspection, given a sufficiently sophisticated counterfeit an individual may be unable to reliably determine visually whether a given container of medication is genuine or not. (Such concerns may apply similarly to validation by inspection for other products including but not limited to bottled water, foods, cosmetics, software, audio and/or video recordings, etc.)
Also at least in principle, certain point-of-action data may be actively reported by an autonomous system, e.g., by incorporating electronic sensors, processors, communication systems into a container. However this too may present challenges. Such components typically require electrical power, and may be inoperable without power. Electronics may be susceptible to damage from various ambient conditions, e.g., if wet, dropped, sat upon (for example if kept in a pocket), exposed to extreme temperatures (for example if left in a car on a hot day or kept in an outer coat pocket in cold weather), etc. Cost, complexity, potential contamination, weight, etc. also may be of concern.